Boulder-area police debate how to handle marijuana in light of conflicting laws

CU police: Smoking still prohibited in campus dorms

By Mitchell Byars Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
11/07/2012 07:56:41 PM MST

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner
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RACHEL HANSEN
)

Gov. John Hickenlooper said Coloradans should hold off on the "Cheetos and Goldfish" in light of the passage of Amendment 64, but Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner went in the other direction.

"Some of us are thinking of going into the burrito cart business," he joked.

But business plans aside, how Boulder County law enforcement will handle marijuana possession after Colorado voters legalized it Tuesday is still hazy because the amendment conflicts with federal law.

"It all has to be fleshed out because none of us yet really know what it really all means," Beckner said. "A constitutional amendment doesn't really tell you how to enforce it."

Amendment 64 legalizes possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by people 21 and older in Colorado and authorizes the drug's purchase for recreational purposes.

Beckner said local law enforcement agencies are waiting for the state to establish more guidelines on how to proceed with the new legal status of marijuana, but with the drug still illegal under federal law, it is unclear what those will look like.

"We're just kind of waiting to see what happens," Beckner said. "Until we have some direction from the state, there is really not much more we can do."

In the meantime, state criminal penalties for possessing the drug won't disappear until the election is certified, which could take up to two months, but Beckner said with legalization looming he doesn't foresee many tickets or arrests in the interim.

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"The reality is going out and doing marijuana enforcement on one ounce or less between now and then seems pretty pointless," he said. "If someone is out there flaunting it we might take some sort of action, but we won't be looking for people so we can write tickets."

But University of Colorado police spokesman Ryan Huff said CUPD will still be enforcing possession until the law goes into effect.

"The bottom line is until the election is certified, current law still stands," Huff said in a statement.

He added that under the amendment, it is still illegal for those younger than 21 -- 62 percent of the undergraduate population -- and it is still illegal to smoke marijuana in public. Huff also said smoking of any sort is still prohibited in campus dorms.

"This amendment does not impact CU's ability to contractually prohibit smoking marijuana in the residence halls," he said in a statement.

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office is working on a memo to send out to local police chiefs about how to handle enforcement until the state can take a closer look at the issue.

"We will come up with some policies for cops on the street that will be clear and comply with this new amendment," he said.

But Garnett said on the prosecution side of things, the amendment likely won't change much for his office, which he said already rarely pursued possession charges unless linked to other crimes, such as distribution.

"I don't think it will have a lot of immediate significance," he said. "We have made mere possession of marijuana a really low priority for a long time. I don't think it will have an impact on any pending cases or anything because we just haven't been processing straight-up possession of marijuana cases."

He added that he does like a provision in the amendment that establishes DUIs for marijuana and feels taxing and regulating marijuana is a more "prudent" approach to dealing with the drug.

But Garnett said it remains to be seen what happens to the amendment once federal officials examine it.

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